Beginning his career at an age when most kids haven't even contemplated the word "career" yet, Oakes Fegley was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2004. By the time he was in kindergarten, Fegley showed an interest in performing, and began taking on roles in local theater productions, notably playing Tiny Tim in his hometown's presentation of "A Christmas Carol" at the Civic Theater. Fegley would begin training in acting, also taking classes in other areas of performance such as hip hop dance and Suzuki method violin, and soon he was appearing in other plays, such as a production of "On Borrowed Time" directed by Joel Grey. Fegley soon began appearing on screen in training videos and commercials, eventually transitioning into more dramatic work. He appeared in the short films "Glass" (2013) and "Children of the Moon" (2014) before moving on to feature films, playing the son of Michelle Monaghan's character in the military drama "Fort Bliss" (2014) when he was ten years old. He would next appear in "This is Where I Leave You" (2014) and on the period series "Boardwalk Empire" (2014). Fegley would appear in a three-episode arc on the police procedural "Person of Interest" (CBS, 2011-16) before taking on the lead role in the remake of the children's classic "Pete's Dragon" (2016).